Combining Service with Leisure
Chicago Global Citizens' Spring Break Trip to Tanzania
Sonia Chan, '09
Issue date: 4/10/08 Section: GSB News
Thirteen of us from the GSB traveled to Arusha, Tanzania for Chicago Global Citizen's annual spring break trip. We spent the first two days working at the Tumaini Center, a vocational training school for disadvantaged students.
The school is run by Global Alliance for Africa, a non-profit organization based in Chicago. Students at the school are taught secretarial skills, computer skills, English, French, Spanish, or bike repair mechanics so they can make a livelihood upon graduation from the center. The center is sustained through the sales of donated bicycles from the Working Bikes Cooperative, also based in Chicago.
The purpose of our visit to Tumaini was twofold: 1) Improve their bike inventory management as currently they don't have an organized system to manage the 400 bicycles they get on a quarterly basis, and 2) To bring donations (money, recruiting cast-offs, and school supplies) generously given by the students at the GSB.
We were given a tour of the Tumaini campus and we were divided into teams to tackle not only the bike management problem, but other logistical issues that we identified after further understanding their business operations. Unfortunately, given the brief time we had at the center, we weren't able to accomplish a sufficient amount while we were there and have brought homework back to Chicago. However, we did have time to sit in on some classes and converse with students of the center. I was impressed by how fluently secretarial students spoke English after only seven months of instruction - I still have problems getting my tenses right after 26 years.
Besides Tumaini, we also visited Chawakua and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Over dinner with staff from Chawakua, we learned about their AIDS education work in the area. Currently, seven percent of Tanzanians are HIV positive. Somewhat unfortunately, there were no trials taking place during our visit to the ICTR that we were able to sit in on. However, we were rewarded with a video explaining the history and processes of the ICTR as well as a speaker who answered our questions. One million Tutsis were killed in 100 daysin 1994, and only now are the last of the instigators being brought to trial.
We spent the last couple days of the trip on safari. We drove through the Ngorongoro Crater, and witnessed some fantastic wildlife. It was amazing to see herds of zebra and elephants, families of giraffe, and prides of lions - a far cry from the San Diego zoo. Our whole car gasped when we saw a lioness sprint towards a herd of wildebeest. The African landscapes were majestic and breathtaking.
Of course, no visit to Arusha is complete without a visit to Kilimanjaro, so we took advantage of our last African afternoon to visit the legendary mountain. Unfortunately, the view of the peak was blocked by fog and clouds, so we satisfied ourselves with a hike through a local village in the area. The efforts of our uphill trek paid off when we were rewarded with "banana wine", the local moonshine, at the end. Overall, a great trip and wonderful way to visit and learn about Tanzania.
The school is run by Global Alliance for Africa, a non-profit organization based in Chicago. Students at the school are taught secretarial skills, computer skills, English, French, Spanish, or bike repair mechanics so they can make a livelihood upon graduation from the center. The center is sustained through the sales of donated bicycles from the Working Bikes Cooperative, also based in Chicago.
The purpose of our visit to Tumaini was twofold: 1) Improve their bike inventory management as currently they don't have an organized system to manage the 400 bicycles they get on a quarterly basis, and 2) To bring donations (money, recruiting cast-offs, and school supplies) generously given by the students at the GSB.
We were given a tour of the Tumaini campus and we were divided into teams to tackle not only the bike management problem, but other logistical issues that we identified after further understanding their business operations. Unfortunately, given the brief time we had at the center, we weren't able to accomplish a sufficient amount while we were there and have brought homework back to Chicago. However, we did have time to sit in on some classes and converse with students of the center. I was impressed by how fluently secretarial students spoke English after only seven months of instruction - I still have problems getting my tenses right after 26 years.
Besides Tumaini, we also visited Chawakua and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Over dinner with staff from Chawakua, we learned about their AIDS education work in the area. Currently, seven percent of Tanzanians are HIV positive. Somewhat unfortunately, there were no trials taking place during our visit to the ICTR that we were able to sit in on. However, we were rewarded with a video explaining the history and processes of the ICTR as well as a speaker who answered our questions. One million Tutsis were killed in 100 daysin 1994, and only now are the last of the instigators being brought to trial.
We spent the last couple days of the trip on safari. We drove through the Ngorongoro Crater, and witnessed some fantastic wildlife. It was amazing to see herds of zebra and elephants, families of giraffe, and prides of lions - a far cry from the San Diego zoo. Our whole car gasped when we saw a lioness sprint towards a herd of wildebeest. The African landscapes were majestic and breathtaking.
Of course, no visit to Arusha is complete without a visit to Kilimanjaro, so we took advantage of our last African afternoon to visit the legendary mountain. Unfortunately, the view of the peak was blocked by fog and clouds, so we satisfied ourselves with a hike through a local village in the area. The efforts of our uphill trek paid off when we were rewarded with "banana wine", the local moonshine, at the end. Overall, a great trip and wonderful way to visit and learn about Tanzania.
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